For those who have been living under a rock, the story thus far is that Taylor Swift pulled her ultra-popular “1989” album from Apple’s eagerly-anticipated Apple Music streaming service as a protest over Apple’s insistence that it not pay artists royalties for the initial three month trial.

While Swift wasn’t the first artist to voice disapproval over Apple’s apparent bilking of musicians, she was the first big name star to discuss it — which she did in an open letter to Apple’s executives over the weekend. “We don’t ask you for free iPhones,” Swift wrote. “Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.” Almost immediately, Apple backed down on their decision and announced that it would, in fact, be paying artists for the three-month trial period, despite the fact that the service won’t actually be making money at this stage.

So where does the conspiracy theory enter into it?

Well, not only did Swift help publicize the fact that Apple Music will be offering said free trial (which a large number of Internet users seemed unaware of), but the end result also serves to make all parties involved look good. Swift gets to cement her image as America’s sweetheart, while Apple shows its caring side by doing what its rivals wouldn’t by admitting it was wrong and pledging to change its stance.

Is it a conspiracy? Almost certainly not, although the idea of Tim Cook and Taylor Swift standing around smoking cigars in a dark room, while laughing about the gullibility of the general public makes me — in the words of Fox Mulder — want to believe.